David Artell insisted there will be no let up from Grimsby’s players in their remaining three games although they need just a point to guarantee League Two football next term after a resounding win at Crewe.

Goals from Toby Mullarkey before the break and Curtis Thompson and Denver Hume in the second half emphasised the Mariners’ dominance at Artell’s former club and lifted them six points clear of second-bottom Sutton.

But Artell stressed: “We’re not safe yet and we’ve still got three big games left. We know what we need to do. It’s not done yet and we will have to perform like that again. We need another point to be mathematically safe, but we will go into the game on Tuesday against Colchester to win.

“We were outstanding today and our recent form had suggested we could tonk someone. That performance has been in us for a while. Our ball retention and our shape on the ball was very good and I don’t think Crewe really got into our half until later in the game.

“We had 21 shots on goal because we created so much more which is down to the work we have been doing over a number of weeks. We’ve got to make sure we perform like this on a regular basis and strive for consistency.

“We will have a big summer ahead and there’s some ability in this group that we will need to get more from.”

Crewe’s form has dipped badly in the run-un with five defeats in their last 10 games damaging their hopes.

Manager Lee Bell said: “We’ve got to get back to doing what we’ve done for 99 per cent of the season. We’ve got to show a lot more desire than we did today. We were dominated from start to finish and I think we only had five minutes in the second half when we played, but it was too late in the day.

“I’m going to have to find out the reasons why, but it is clear the boys are struggling at the moment.

“Unfortunately, Tom has overstretched his hamstring, but Max comes to us with some experience which is really good. He’s a good goalkeeper who has played plenty of football this year.”

Nigel Clough says the champagne must stay on ice despite an emphatic 4-1 win for his promotion-hunting Mansfield side over MK Dons.

The Stags are now five points clear of fourth-placed Dons having played a game fewer, meaning they can clinch a place in League One next season with a win over Accrington on Tuesday.

Two goals from Davis Keillor-Dunn either side of strikes from Elliott Hewitt and James Gale saw Town earn a potentially decisive comeback victory at Stadium MK after falling behind to Max Dean’s opener.

“We’re just nearly there but not there yet,” said Clough. “The emotions are understandable at the end but we’re not there yet.

“We came set up in a certain way to sort of stop their four in midfield, then a mistake was made by Jordan (Bowery) and it changes the whole game. We were OK at 0-0 just waiting to see how the game played out a little bit, but then all of a sudden we had to change and we were probably better for it. We went a bit more like our old selves.

“I thought once we got in at half-time at 1-1, it felt a bit like the Notts County game away from home where we’ve conceded a goal, maybe a daft soft goal, but come on, it’s 1-1, let’s go on and win it.

“We got the goal within a few minutes although it took us five or six efforts I think again to get it over the line.

“Then it’s a case of sitting in, breaking and restricting MK Dons as I think they are the best footballing side in the league.

“We’re not great believers in keeping the ball, we want to get further ahead and get third or fourth goals, and we did it again today.”

Barring an unlikely Mansfield collapse, Dons are a certainty for the play-offs after struggling for consistency in recent weeks, although they did take an early lead here through the in-form Dean.

Boss Mike Williamson has called a quick response from his side.

He said: “The course of that game summed up our season a little bit. I thought we started really well and we had a lot of control, but overall, I don’t think we did enough to win the game.

“It’s a humbling and it’s a tough one to take, but Mansfield deserve a lot of credit for that performance and what they’ve done over the course of the season.

“We know our reaction to defeats in the next game has been good and really positive but we’ve got to make it our habit no matter the momentum, opposition or stakes.”

Doncaster manager Grant McCann is determined not to discuss his side’s play-off hopes despite surging to an eighth straight league victory in beating Accrington.

The 4-0 triumph at the Eco Power Stadium, coupled with results in their favour elsewhere, saw Rovers cut the gap to the top seven down to just a single point with a home game against sixth-placed Barrow to come next.

McCann has stubbornly insisted on focusing only on the next match for his side and continued to do so after an extremely positive day for his side.

“I’m not concerned what others have done,” he said. “I just want to finish the season strong and if it’s good enough to put us right in that top seven then great. If not, then that’s the way it is.

“The boys are riding the crest of a wave at the minute and all we can do is focus on ourselves. We’ve got a game against another side in the top seven next week [Barrow] and hopefully another good game.

“They beat us easily at their place and hopefully we show how much we’ve improved.”

Hakeeb Adelakun gave Rovers a fifth-minute lead before Joe Ironside’s 20th goal of the campaign doubled the advantage midway through the first half.

James Maxwell and Owen Bailey both struck after the break as Doncaster cruised to the win.

McCann said: “I thought we played really well. We knew we were up against an Accrington team that have had two really good results coming into it and I thought they would be dangerous and they would play with freedom.

“Once the goal went in for us, they kept coming and credit to them. But I thought my team was really good.”

Stanley boss John Doolan felt Doncaster simply showed more quality on the afternoon to take the win.

He said: “It sounds a bit mad but I asked the lads to start on the front foot and I thought we did for the first five or six minutes but the first goal goes in and it just puts you on the back foot.

“We concede these early goals and you need a response. It was difficult.

“There was loads of effort. The lads did respond and it was a big day for the full backs and wingers on both teams. We’ve both got good wingers and ours got into some good positives but they were more effective for us.

“It wasn’t for lack of effort and they just had a bit more quality and that was the deciding moments in the game.

“We’ll draw a line under this one and move onto the next game. We want to pick us as many points as well can in the remaining games.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler says his side must use the injustice they are feeling to drive their play-off push after his 10 men lost 3-1 at home to Notts County.

The Saddlers went behind in 90 seconds to Sky Bet League Two top scorer Macaulay Longstaff’s 26th league goal of the season but Josh Gordon had an equaliser wrongly ruled offside.

Aaron Nemane’s brilliant solo effort doubled County’s lead and Walsall were denied by a goal-line clearance and the woodwork as losing midfielder Brandon Comley.

Mo Faal’s cool finish gave them a lifeline but the Magpies instantly restored their two-goal cushion through Sam Austin to leave Walsall three points off the top seven with three games remaining.

“I’m frustrated we conceded so early,” said Sadler. “But there were many frustrations – the goal that Josh scores is frustrating, disallowed for offside but it wasn’t. He’s definitely onside.

“Sometimes football is like that – we are at the whim of human decisions and human errors, and that’s the same for us, we are all fallible. But they didn’t go our way today.

“Chances came and went, we didn’t tuck them away in key moments. We hit the post in the first 30 seconds of the second half, those moments are pivotal in games.

“The good thing is that with how results played out elsewhere, it’s kind of ‘as you were’.”

He continued: “So we go into Tuesday night’s game [against Swindon] now wanting to feel like the world is against us, that the footballing gods are against us and we have to come out fighting.

“It’s right there in our fingertips to play for – an opportunity has been missed today and we know that but there’s another opportunity on Tuesday.”

County, meanwhile, registered back-to-back wins for the first time under boss Stuart Maynard but the play-offs are out of reach barring a miracle.

“I’m delighted with back-to-back wins for the boys, they deserve it,” he said.

“It kind of hindered us a little bit when they went down to 10 men because the game went a little bit chaotic and it took a bit of structure out of the game.

“If you look at our intensity out of possession today, it was outstanding from minute one, it started with the front two setting the press, getting after them early. I thought we were excellent today.

“Winning is a habit and that is something we want to install again. We are starting to see the results are coming with the performance levels.

“We knew that with the bad batch of results we’d had, the play-offs had been taken away from us but we will keep going to the end. It is disappointing that we are not closer to being in that race.”

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey admitted the costly mistakes in their 3-2 home defeat by Colchester was a perfect illustration of “shooting ourselves in the foot”.

Lindsey warned his players, who occupy seventh place, that any repetition could lead to them missing out on the play-offs despite other results going their way.

Two goals from Tom Hopper either side of a Cameron McGeehan effort lifted 10-man Colchester out of the bottom two by a single point with four games remaining.

Crawley, who briefly pulled level thanks to a third goal in three games by Klaidi Lolos, scored again into stoppage time through Harry Forster but they have only won twice at home since New Year’s Day.

Lindsey said: “When you gift an opposition two goals, if not three, you’re never going to win a game of football. They were gifts and if we’re going to do that, we won’t make the play-offs.

“We were our worst enemy; it was an example of shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Lindsey wants his men to dwell on all the good things they have achieved this season for the remaining three games and not put their play-off challenge in doubt with “unprofessional play”.

He added: “Destiny is in our own hands. But we’ve been lucky with other results; I want us to hold our nerve and do it properly.”

Colchester boss Danny Cowley, who was serving a one-match touchline ban, hailed an “outstanding performance” and felt it was built on high energy.

He said: “They needed to run and run and run – and boy did they run. They must have covered every blade of grass.

“Obviously I’m delighted with the result but to be honest we should have won by more.

“Crawley’s first goal was offside and the corner from which we thought we had made it 4-1 was given as a foul but in fact there was no contact at all – certainly not on the keeper.

“It would have been a hat-trick for Tom Hopper and he thoroughly deserved that.

“He’s a hard-working player. In his position, he’s our first defender and we depend so much on him so to get goals as well, that’s a real bonus.”

Colchester were boosted by nearly 1,000 travelling fans and Cowley is appealing for maximum support for Tuesday’s home game against Grimsby.

He added: “We’ve got a good chance but we need everybody on board.”

Swindon came from behind to defeat AFC Wimbledon 3-2 and dent the visitors’ play-off hopes, with Dawson Devoy’s double proving decisive.

Joe Lewis had Wimbledon ahead in only the second minute in Wiltshire but Gavin Gunning’s hosts hit back strongly in the second half.

Aaron Drinan levelled the scores six minutes after the restart, before substitute Devoy’s double in the space of 13 minutes had them 3-1 ahead.

However, Lewis pulled a goal back for Johnnie Jackson’s men with two minutes remaining and Udoka Godwin-Malife’s added-time dismissal, following two yellow cards, made it a nervous finish for Swindon.

Newport manager Graham Coughlan admits his injury-hit side are producing “feeble, weak” performances as they suffered a sixth successive defeat after going down 2-1 at home to Tranmere.

Top scorer Will Evans, who was forced to fill in at left wing-back, headed the Exiles in front with his 25th goal of the season in the 20th minute.

But Coughlan’s men could not build on that bright start and a first-half double from Rob Apter was enough to seal all three points for the visitors.

“We are a team that is on our knees, we’ve run out of energy and ideas, and we haven’t got the leaders that we need on the pitch to help the young ones through,” said Coughlan, who handed an EFL debut to 17-year-old centre-back Nelson Sanca and named four other teenagers on the bench.

“Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. That’s not a true reflection on us, but I would expect better from certain individuals.

“It’s tough to take and tough to watch to be honest – what other manager in the Football League would have to put their top goalscorer in at left-back?

“We are just limping to the end of the season and it’s in the face of adversity that you learn about characters and resilience, those that really want it and dig deep.

“We don’t have the energy, legs, snap and zest to our play that we used to have,” added the Exiles boss.

“We had it for about half an hour but in the second half of games we just can’t get going.

“It’s sad watching us but that is not a true reflection of our group, those who have followed us all season will understand that. We are feeble, weak and not ourselves.”

Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins was delighted with the spirit his side showed, as they secured the club’s first win at Rodney Parade on their sixth visit to climb up to 17th.

“I’m really pleased,” he said. “We responded really well to going behind early on.

“We knew we could give them problems on the counter-attack and Robbie Apter scored two great goals.

“I left him on to give him a chance to get his hat-trick; he didn’t get it, but he is a joy to watch.

“We could have scored a few more, but we managed the game really well.”

And Adkins said a first win in five games is proof that his players are not on the beach yet.

“There were no deckchairs out – not in this wind and rain,” he joked.

“We were at it; we’ve got to be competitive, and we were. The lads gave it everything and we deserved the win.”

Karl Robinson was relieved that Salford have secured League Two safety despite a fourth consecutive defeat.

Bradford came from behind to win 2-1 at the Peninsula Stadium as goals from Calum Kavanagh and Brad Halliday wiped out Callum Hendry’s opener for the Ammies.

But Sutton’s draw at Harrogate meant that the home side are clear of the threat of relegation.

Salford manager Robinson said: “I’m relieved now we are mathematically safe. The objective was first and foremost to do that.

“I’m not disappointed, I’m not frustrated. I expected some of the things that I have seen.

“The clarity that these games have started to bring is very evident. We have secured our status for next season and now it’s about putting our foot down and being a much better organisation and group moving forward.

“There has been an inconsistency about a lot of our performances, the lack of clean sheets, lack of winning duels and not creating and taking chances.

“For me, it’s something that falls on the toes of us now in the summer. We can’t moan about this next season if we don’t do something about it now.

“The players are generally good lads and I respect them all. But I think we’re a little bit below what we expect.

“The league table never lies. We are where we are and there’s no dodging around that. We rode our luck today, even in the first half we could have been three or four down. It’s not the type of team I want to watch every week.”

Hendry’s half-volley was cancelled out right on half-time by Kavanagh’s close-range finish from Richie Smallwood’s free-kick.

Bradford missed plenty of chances before Halliday struck after 86 minutes to clinch their third win in four.

Manager Graham Alexander, formerly of Salford, said: “I was devastated for the boys when we went 1-0 down. But we’ve talked about how we respond to getting a punch on the nose.

“We were the team in the ascendancy and I thought the response was instant. We went on the front foot again.

“We scored the equaliser and my notes for half-time didn’t change. It was about the quality we had and just having a little tactical tweak on the defensive side to manage their threats.

“We did that second half and just had to keep plugging away. We had numerous chances, in the second half especially, but Brad’s come up with the goods with an unbelievable finish.

“There were a lot of balls pumped into our box and they’ve got massive threats. But I think we stood up to that really well.

“It was a quality all-round performance but we have to improve in our consistency. If we want to be in that top area, we can’t have such a yo-yo experience.”

Stockport and Wrexham became the first two sides to be promoted in the EFL with victories on Saturday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what is required in each division.

Southampton secured a play-off place as Flynn Downes’ stoppage-time goal gave them a 3-2 victory over Watford – and they could still figure in the automatic promotion battle with games in hand as Leicester, Leeds and Ipswich all failed to win.

Rotherham are already relegated but the survival battle will go down to the wire with a tight battle at the bottom.

Portsmouth still need a point to clinch promotion to the Championship after drawing 1-1 at Bolton, while Derby ran out comfortable winners against Leyton Orient.

At the bottom, Carlisle are already relegated and the other three places will remain in contest at least until midweek.

Stockport confirmed promotion to League One with a 2-0 victory over Morecambe, while Wrexham‘s 6-0 thrashing of Forest Green secured back-to-back promotions for the Welsh side.

Mansfield came from behind to win 4-1 at MK Dons and they can claim the third automatic promotion spot if they beat Accrington on Tuesday.  The Dons confirmed their place in the play-offs despite the heavy defeat.

Relegation issues have not yet been decided but if Colchester beat Grimsby on Tuesday they will send Forest Green down. A point for the Mariners will secure their safety.

Stephen Clemence insists Gillingham will keep on fighting for a play-off spot following a comprehensive 3-0 win over promotion rivals Barrow at Priestfield Stadium.

George Ray’s first-half red card was key as the Gills ran out convincing winners, Josh Andrews opening the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

An own goal from Rory Feely and a late effort from Connor Mahoney wrapped up all three points for Gillingham, who now sit two points behind Crawley in seventh, albeit having played a game more.

Wins in each of their last two games may not be enough, but Clemence has vowed to keep going while the play-offs remain a mathematical possibility.

He said: “Obviously I am delighted with the three points first of all. I would have liked to have got more being greedy, but winning is the most important thing.

“We will keep fighting, we will go again next week.

“Although they went down to 10 men their shape did not change. They became more stubborn when they went down to 10.

“I changed us to a diamond and I am pleased with how we played then, we started to outnumber them and push our full-backs on.

“Josh Andrews will score goals at this football club, I have no doubt about that.

“He has been a real miss for me and I am really pleased to see him score on his home debut, he will take great confidence going forward.

“It has been hard for us to score goals, a lot of sides have tried to stop us here at Priestfield.”

The game’s key moment came in the 22nd minute. Seconds after coming on, Josh Walker was scythed down by Ray, who was duly sent off, while Walker required extensive treatment before being taken off on a stretcher.

From there, Gillingham took control, Andrews putting them in front when he sprung an offside trap and rounded Paul Farman three minutes into injury time at the end of the first half.

They made it two just before the hour mark, Feely diverting Conor Masterson’s ball from the right into his own net.

And 10 minutes later the points were sealed as Mahoney slotted home a third.

Barrow remain in the play-off places but have now lost three on the trot.

Manager Pete Wild said: “When our luck turns we just have to be ready to capitalise on it.

“We have had a great season, we have to keep believing that over the next 10 days something more will go our way.

“We were really pleased with how we started, how we set up, our plan and how we were going to go about our business, but then the red card changes the game.

“It is obviously a red card, it is not the greatest challenge in the world, he has mistimed it.

“George is not a bad guy, we know that, he is not that type of player.

“Unfortunately the timing of the second and third goals hurt us and then it was about protecting our goal difference and our players for Tuesday night.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor says his side will be going all out to win the League Two title after securing promotion with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Morecambe at Edgeley Park.

Last season’s play-off final losers secured elevation with three games remaining with goals from Isaac Olaofe and Fraser Horsfall earning them the three points.

Challinor said: “This was a tough game and I thought we were a bit sloppy in the first half and it was a bit frustrating.

“But we got into a winning position and got the win and we are now looking forward to Tuesday night because the aim now is to win the league.

“It’s a great feeling to win promotion and see everyone celebrate like they are, especially after the disappointment of losing at Wembley last year. I had a poster at the training ground from that game that I used as motivation for this year and that seemed to work.

“It feels great to get the promotion and it’s fully deserved for the hard work everyone at the club has put in but there is still work to do.”

Stockport enjoyed a fine start as they went ahead after just seven minutes when Olaofe volleyed home Kyle Wootton’s cross-field header from close range after a mistake from Nelson Khumbeni.

The home side dominated possession without creating too many chances until Horsfall was left unmarked at the far post to head home Antoni Sarcevic’s deep corner.

County went close to adding to their score after the break with Callum Camps forcing a smart low save from Archie Mair and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans seeing a shot from the edge of the box deflected wide by Yann Songo’o.

Morecambe looked sharper towards the end of the game but failed to test Ben Hinchliffe’s goal as the home side earned their passage into League One.

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan, who saw his side deducted three points this week after a breach of league rules, said Stockport fully deserved the win.

He said: “We never turned up in the first half today and I was really disappointed with that. I thought we showed a bit more character and belief after the break but it was never enough to get us back in the game.

“Their second goal was a killer for us as it came four minutes into injury time and we have enough experience in the side to avoid that sort of thing happening.

“If we had held on and just been one down we could have had a go in the second half but that was a massive blow for us and we can’t concede goals like that.”

Tom Hopper scored twice as 10-man Colchester moved out of the relegation places with a spirited 3-2 victory at play-off chasing Crawley.

The visitors went into the game boosted by a bumper following of nearly 1,000 fans, boss Danny Cowley having made a passionate appeal for increased support.

Crawley midfielder Liam Kelly fired against the top of the bar before the Reds went behind after 21 minutes when Ellis Iandolo crossed for Hopper to turn the ball in from close range.

In a dramatic end to the opening half, Crawley equalised after 42 minutes when Klaidi Lolos scored for the third game running.

But Colchester hit back to regain the lead two minutes later, goalkeeper Corey Addai giving the ball away which allowed Jay Mingi to cross for Cameron McGeehan to score into an empty net.

The U’s made it 3-1 a minute after the break as Hopper stroked in his second past the helpless Addai.

Colchester were reduced to 10 men two minutes from time after substitute Samson Tovide, only on the field eight minutes, received a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.

Harry Forster headed in a cross from Kelly in the seventh minute of added time but Colchester held on for a vital win which lifted them one point above Sutton.

Gillingham boosted their play-off hopes with a convincing 3-0 win over 10-man Barrow at Priestfield Stadium.

Barrow stay sixth but have now lost three games in a row, with this contest coming to life in the 21st minute.

George Lapslie went off injured and, just seconds after coming on, his replacement Josh Walker was scythed down by George Ray, who promptly followed Lapslie down the tunnel after being shown a red card.

Gillingham hit the front in the third minute of nine added minutes at the end of the first half, target man Josh Andrews springing the offside trap to reach Remeao Hutton’s through-ball and rounding Paul Farman to score.

Andrews was making his first start for Gills and continued to impress in the second half, earning a corner just before the hour mark.

Sustained pressure led to Gillingham’s second, Conor Masterson’s ball from the right forced over his own line by Barrow’s Rory Feely.

And Conor Mahoney provided added gloss for Gills, rounding Farman once again to make it 3-0 and wrap up three convincing points for the home side, who are now just two points off the play-offs.

Mansfield took a giant step towards League One with an emphatic 4-1 win over promotion rivals MK Dons.

Max Dean put the Dons ahead early on but Elliott Hewitt’s equaliser brought Mansfield level midway through the first half.

The visitors then took charge after the break with substitute Davis Keillor-Dunn scoring twice before James Gale added a fourth to seal the win.

Victory means Mansfield remain third in the table behind promoted duo Stockport and Wrexham but are now five points ahead of MK Dons, having played one game fewer.

The hosts took a 13th-minute lead when Dean outmuscled Jordan Bowery to meet a long ball and curl home a fine strike.

But Mansfield equalised on the half-hour, as Hewitt tapped in from ex-Don Hiram Boateng’s cross.

The visitors completed their comeback just after the break. Keillor-Dunn and Boateng both had shots saved but the former eventually prodded home amid a goalmouth scramble.

MK Dons struggled to rally and Nigel Clough’s Stags duly wrapped up the win with two quickfire goals in the closing stages.

A breakaway move saw Keillor-Dunn outpace the backline to score his second of the match, before he turned provider in stoppage time, setting up fellow substitute Gale for a thumping fourth.

Deon Moore’s 87th-minute equaliser earned Sutton a precious point in their fight for EFL survival as they claimed a 2-2 draw at Harrogate.

The hosts looked to have reignited their own play-off ambitions after goals by George Thomson and Jack Muldoon had cancelled out Harry Beautyman’s first-half opener for the visitors.

But Moore’s late leveller for second-bottom Sutton leaves the Sulphurites five places behind the top seven with two games left to play.

Sutton, meanwhile, lie one point away adrift of safety after wins for relegation rivals Colchester and Grimsby.

United had carried the greater attacking threat during the opening exchanges before Beautyman broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time after turning in a low Coley cross from close range.

But Harrogate began the second half with greater purpose and were level less than four minutes into the restart when Matty Foulds’ pull-back from the left byline was guided inside the far post by Thomson from 12 yards.

The hosts then forged ahead in devastating fashion with Thomson’s quickly-taken free-kick releasing substitute Sam Folarin through the left channel.

He then squared to fellow replacement Muldoon who, after sprinting into the penalty box, emphatically finished high to Sutton keeper Steve Arnold’s left in the 80th minute.

But Sutton demonstrated their fighting spirit when Beautyman released substitute Moore down the right and he held off Foulds before poking the ball in between the legs of advancing home keeper James Belshaw.